Next year I’m totally dressing up as my cat for Halloween.
a french bulldog that is now full of insecurities and self-doubt
Utterly amazing microscope images of food. The shrimp tail is gorgeous.
See the rest of Caren Alpert’s work!
CIA Creates Fake Vaccination Program?
Image: FBI
In the months before US forces raided Osama Bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound, the CIA created a fake Hepatitis B vaccination campaign to obtain DNA from Bin Laden or one of his family members. Public health workers say the sham drive could harm legitimate vaccination efforts by giving credence to conspiracy theories in the developing world, where suspicion of vaccines is widespread…
Read more at The Scientist…
Asexual Ants Actually Having Sex the Whole Time
Image: Alex Wild
Birds do it. Bees do it. But until now, no one thought the fungus farming ant did it. Documenting genetic variations and the presence of sperm, however, researchers have found evidence that some populations of Mycocepurus smithii actually do have sex, according to a study publishing today (July 18) inPNAS. The study is “a tour de force of both field work and lab work,” said University of California, Berkeley, evolutionary biologist Neil Tsutsui, who was not involved in the study. The finding may offer insight into a long standing question in evolutionary biology about what forces cause species to choose sex over asexual reproduction and vice versa, he said… Read more at The Scientist
Shakespeare Kitty. Both Mila and William Shakespeare sport very fashionable neck wear. Unfortunately, Mila’s collar is more utilitarian than aesthetic; she is wearing it to prevent licking after surgery.
Three men build giant wasp nest in New York
Buidlers had previously constructed, and lived in, a recreation of a beaver lodge
Vaccine Predictions
Image: USACE, Carole E. Davis, Flickr
Measuring gene and protein expression levels throughout the body, researchers can predict who will muster up a rousing immune response to the flu virus just a few days after vaccination, and presumably be better protected against a subsequent infection. The findings, published yesterday (July 10) in Nature Immunology, could explain why vaccines work in some patients but not others, and provide general principles to determine which vaccines will be most effective in a given population.
Read more at The Scientist
Daddy long legs eyes are pretty:
These magnified eyes of a daddy longlegs spider look more like art than a microscopic photograph. Check out these other eye-opening microscopic images.
Image: Madpixelist, Flickr
A halllucinogen may treat MS:
DXM, the key ingredient in Robitussin reduces symptoms of multiple sclerosis in mouse models. DXM is a dissociative which causes hallucinations if you drink enough of it. Resourceful teenagers and other drug enthusiasts have been robo-tripping on the stuff for years; perhaps they are unwittingly protecting their neurons as well?
Read more at The Scientist
